Last July, a sailboat with two people onboard caught on fire several hundred miles off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida. Luckily for the crew, a NOAA satellite picked up the distress signal from their emergency beacon, enabling the U.S. Air Force and Coast Guard to rescue them.
![NOAA polar orbiting (right), geostationary (middle), and the new GOES-R series (left) satellites are part of the SARSAT constellation. (Image credit: NOAA) NOAA polar orbiting (right), geostationary (middle), and the new GOES-R series (left) satellites are part of the SARSAT constellation.](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_width_1275/public/legacy/image/2019/Jun/IMAGE-SARSAT-020816-1120x534-landscape_6-chris.jpg?itok=zM8VVEEq)
NOAA polar orbiting (right), geostationary (middle), and the new GOES-R series (left) satellites are part of the SARSAT constellation. (Image credit: NOAA)